Report: Major League Baseball rejects A's move to San Jose

Major League Baseball in June told the Oakland A's it was rejecting the team's request to move to San Jose, according to court filings cited by the Mercury News. Questions remain as to finality of that decision.

The existence of the June letter, in which MLB told A's owner Lew Wolff "it was not satisfied with the club's relocation proposal," came to light in a Dec. 6 court filing in San Jose's federal antitrust case against the league, the Mercury News said.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and A's owner Lew Wolff both indicated that the letter doesn't permanently scuttle efforts to move the ball club and build a stadium near San Jose's Diridon train station, the Mercury said.

Whether the letter is a final decision, or whether it simply marks another plot twist in Wolff's efforts to move the A's couldn't be assessed because the document from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wasn't included in the court filing.

For San Jose, the proposed ballpark represents a chance to rev up economic development in the downtown area. It would also shift Silicon Valley's cultural center of gravity southward, adding another sports attraction to complement the 49ers' Levi's Stadium being constructed in Santa Clara and the San Jose Earthquakes' stadium just north of downtown. Wolff has an ownership interest in the Earthquakes.

For Wolff, moving the A's would culminate an effort he formally started in 2009. It would also cap years of investing in downtown San Jose real estate, where his business portfolio has included office developments as well as the Fairmont Hotel and the Sainte Claire, which is being rebranded as a Westin.